bike meets car bike looses (G)

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Sure glad to hear that you're alright Steve, or at least that you think that you're alright. Tomorrow morning will be very tell-telling.

Todd O.

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Sounds like I'd get it checked out. Better to be safe than sorry. I have seen road rash get awfull nasty.

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

steve knight

>yep I am going to hurt tomorrow (G) but I can walk ok and I know my body pretty well anymore. but if I need to go in it's covered by her insurance.

neither one of us was going very fast when it happened. I did not get hardly any road rash just a scraped chin and a couple light cuts on the inside of my leg.

I did find my glasses scratched up just now. but the frames are really good titanium frames so they held up fine.

Quote the Black Knight " It's only a flesh wound!"

Victor Parisian - Houston

>Sorry to hear about the accident. Used to race in Ohio years ago. (pre hard helmits - just bits of padded leather we referred to as brain baskets). Seems like my friends were always getting hit. Rain or evening training rides, poor visability, distractions, wet roads etc always played a part. For me I was in several close calls a lot of road rash, but nothing like yours. Hope you get to feeling better and back on the bike before you get stiff. Regards, Victor in Houston

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

Bruce, a MN galoot

>Get yourself checked out, Steve. Her insurance pays. She pulled out in front of you and hit you -- there's not much else to say. There is always the possibility of a head injury, whether if manifests itself immediately or not. It is nothing to mess around with. A very good friend of mine is suffering from a closed head injury that will plague her the rest of her life. Check it out.

Bruce

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

steve knight

>she admitted she was in the wrong. If I feel worse tomorrow I will. but my leg is ok now. I can walk fine. layng down hurts worse. the head is fine though at first I could not figure out why since I saw the pavement up close.

the ambulance driver did not think I was bad off either. not even any real road rash because we both were going pretty slow when it happened.

I know my body pretty well anymore and I don't take chances I can't afford to miss work. I had a bunch of planes to ship today and that got delayed.

if I just did not forget my wallet and have to return to get it (G)

Oh Man...

Scott Burr Ben Lomond,CA

>I headered across a hood before...no helmets in those days. I feel what your GOING to go thru. Do as everyone else say get you self checked out.

Scott, let's not even talk about old super-surfer skateboards...

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

ScottS

>Yikes, Steve! Glad you were wearing a helmet! Had a buddy who used to race bicycles in college. He was doing a training ride on the street and a woman driving a station wagon backed out of her driveway without looking and hit him. Separated shoulder, broken arms, etc. ER docs took one look at his helmet and told him if he hadn't been wearing it he'd have been in a coma (or worse)... I always remember that incident whenever I go to get on a bicycle or motorcycle!

As others have suggested, I wouldn't rule out a visit to the doc. When my car was rear-ended, I felt fine immediately afterwards. But months later, I started having neck pains that I could only attribute to that accident. Always regretted not getting a doc to check me out...

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

steve knight

>I cracked my head open twice as a kid I know what I want on my head (G)

I would not have gotten hit if she had not started stoped and started again. I braked the first time then let up when she stopped the second time was too late.

I may go in. but we were both going pretty slow at the time. I will see how sore I am i nthe morning (G) and take my bike in and see the damage. glad it is a nice steel frame if it was anythign else i bet it would be toast.

Plai(n)e speaking to Steve Knight

CONGER - The Irish diaspora in Munich

>GO Steve... GO...

Do'nt be such a 'wooden head' and GO to the doc and have it checked up!

I understand that you are a 'one man band' and if you have a latent injury, it may emerge later and take your profession away from you! If I were you I would like to have the record straight at that time... and this would include a medical record of any injuries you may have sustained.

Please forgive my frankness; it is simply expressed out of concern.

-g-

she admitted she was in the wrong

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>To the police officer which you summoned to the scene of the collision, I hope?

I hope that you suffered no serious injuries. Did not this happen to you about two years ago?

Feel better,

Don

Steel Frame Bike

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Steve,

How ya'feeling this morning? as the others have said I think it wouldn't hurt none to go get a check over from Doc. Bro, as conger pointed out you are a one man band, so it's best to be double sure that there is no hidden injuries.

now than, I've got to disagree with you about your idea that the stell frame of your bike was actually benefetual to you. I differ as I think if nothing else it could of been very hurtful to you.

I learned this from watching a show on PBS about how and why cars are designed the way they are these days.

In a nutshell"

Around 1966 a Indy car flipped and tumbled end over end down the track many, many, many, many times. When it finally stopped it was still practaclly in drivable condition. Some Smart Guy types looked at this as said Hmmmmmmmmmm, how can this be, and why did this car flip so many times? To make a long story short (which goes directly against my nature ;~)) they discovered that if the car had "Folded up" it would would of stopped tumbling allot sooner, thus reducing possible injury to the driver sooner. Seems the folding up action actually "absorbs" the impact and reduceds all that "Opposite reaction for equal and opposite action" Newton stuff.

To try to illistrate this, what you rather be hit in the head with, a rock or a marshmellow?

I tell this to you so that you might keep it in mind when looking for a new bike. I know you ride alot so it might be worth looking into.

Todd O.

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

Dave Anderson Chester,NH

>I won't make this a long post and agree with the others-- See A Doctor. That's not a suggestion, THAT'S AN ORDER. Heal quickly and well my friend.

Re: Steel Frame Bike

steve knight

>what I meant was if it was an aluminum or carbon fiber bike a good impact will toast it. once aluminum bends thats it. it can't be fixed. and carbon fiber can have cracks you can't see and if it has one it's toast.

I don't think the bike got too muich of the cars impact since I was hit from the side. I got most of it (G)

but I am doing better then I thought I would be. Knee is a ltitle stuff and the cuts on my leg huts but really doing pretty well. hope my mecanic is in today to ckeck the bike out.

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

steve knight

>Ok you guys. Though I am feeling far better then I thought I would be today. just sole muscles and not as sore as I thought they would be.

Diminishing Returns... LONG

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>Hey, Todd-O,

I'll throw some conjecture into this'n: With cars/trucks/IRL (dunno 'bout them NASCAR crazies), crumple zones absorb energy during an impact. The design is such that, up to some maximum impact pressure, the driver/passenger compartment will be spared major intrusion of metal, protecting the occupants. Having said that, though, you drop a car head-long off a 500' cliff, crumple zones t'aint gonna do you much good. There's a maximum pressure that they'll absorb; beyond that, and the areas typically protected will start to fail as well.

With a bicycle/car collision, I think, even with some more malleable and deformable material, you'd almost immediately exceed any energy-absorbing benefit that existed. Not to say that there isn't any initial benefit; there's really no 'driver compartment' to protect on a bicycle, though. I think that if you were to design too far in that direction with bikes, you'd run the risk of increasing injuries, since the bike would deform around you, instead of sending you flying away (might save a collarbone or two, at the expense of a few legs).

Dunno if my opinion really matters, though. I've got two old bikes - a pre-chromoly Fuji, and a chromoly Miyata Pista fixed-gear. Neither of which has seen anything more than rollers in years.

Scott, former hard-core cyclist and Alfred E. Bike mechanic...

Re: Diminishing Returns... LONG

steve knight

>well I put the front wheel on (the forks were spread and I had to work to get it on) the front derailer is bent and maybe the crank. but all of the bike needs inspected and checked out. I will know monday.

Re: Diminishing Returns... LONG

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Some good points Scott, especially when speaking of bikes. No passenger compartment, Ha!

I can see where you're coming from about exceeding a max pressure in the crumple zones. Coarse these are designed with what would be a "normal" auto accident in mind. Falling off of a 500' would be way extreme. I think these crumple zones are a good thing until of coarse you need to repair them. the question always comes up "How did I do this much damage I was only 5 miles an hour" and the answer is "They don't make 'em like they used too". Which, fortunately is true.

Thanks for the add'l info.

Todd O.

Re: bike meets car bike looses (G)

Jim Toews - Walla Walla, WA

>Hey Steve,

If you're worried about expense/emotional trauma for the driver who hit you, see a doctor: if you do have an occult injury it will protect you; if you do not have any injuries it will protect her. Some injuries can take several days to weeks to manifest themselves, and having been checked out after the accident can actually help you with any insurance claims you might need to make in the future, both against your own insurance as well as hers, should it become necessary to do so. I am a trauma nurse and my wife is an attorny working in personal injury, so please trust me in this. Oh, and thank God you were wearing a helmet! They are cheap compared to even the most minor head injury.

Cheers!

Jim

Helmets

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Down here, the bicyclists wear helmets, and the motorcyclists do not.

Hmmmm.

Re: Helmets

steve knight

>those people are called organ doners (G)

Loooong Response... two stories.

Christopher Fitch @ Memphis

>Glad to hear you are not seriously injured... I know a bit about bike injuries.

I fell off a bike once when I was riding home from work one night. Bad luck accident for me really... I was riding on a long straight empty road and there was a double edge on the roadside. I did not see it well in the dark and I got my front wheel caught in it causing me to lose my balance. I knew I was going to fall so I got my feet out of the stirrups and jumped, tumbled and rolled on my feet.

I was bumped a bit and my left elbow felt like it was bruised pretty bad but I thought nothing of it. However the bike had the handle bars bent at 90 degrees from the wheel so I could not ride the rest of the way. I ended up walking about 2 miles home.

Well when I got home I noticed that my elbow was getting quite stiff. So I put some ice on it. Next morning when my dad got home from working at the fire station, I found I could hardly bend my elbow. So after the hospital visit, I found that I had a cracked radial in my elbow. I only had to wear a soft cast for 6 weeks.

That's story one... #2 is worse...and alot longer.

One Friday evening after my wife and I had gone out, she went to bed early and I decided to visit the bookstore at about 10 pm. As I was getting close, there was a intersection with a red light beside store. As I was approaching, the light was red for me and some other cars, and I noticed a guy on a bike crossing at the intersection with the green light. He was wearing dark clothes but he had reflective tape and a headlight. There was a car coming from the opposite direction. The car turned left and plowed into the guy knocking him up in the air and off his bike. I was stunned and remember saying something to the effect of: "Holy S**T he hit that guy hard!" I was still back about 200-250 feet from where it happened. I slowed down and I noticed that the car was not stopping. I realized he was going to run and fortunately he passed right by me in the center lane for turning. I managed to get a look at his face and turned and got his tag #. Some other cars saw him run and turned around chasing after him.

After that I put my blinkers on, angled over, and blocked the lane the guy was lying in. Another car pulled over and fortunately he was moving. I helped him off but he was in some real pain and cursing up a storm since it looked like he had a broken leg at the least. A couple got out and helped him in their back seat so he could lay down and they called the cops. I got his bike out of the road and moved my truck. Needless to say his bike was beatup pretty bad.

A number of other people who were chasing the car came back but they lost him and none of them could even remember the car or his tag correctly. So when the police came they collected tags, descriptions, etc. An ambulance came and took the guy off. He was fine but still in a lot of pain. One of the cops came up and asked me to give the info about the car again and she asked me if I would go over to meet the cops at this persons house since I was the only one who gave them a valid tag #.

So I followed the cop and drove to this house. There were already two cops there and they were talking to this guy who was denying he saw or hit anyone. He did not look quite like the guy I saw driving the car. He had no car in his driveway but I looked around and saw the car parked across the street in a dark driveway for another house. I told one of the cops and we went over and looked and there was no doubt it was the car. The car was white and had long black rubber tire marks across the hood aiming right at the driver's side of the windshield. The cop said that there was no way he could not have seen that.

We went back over and the cop asked why his car was parked across the street. The guy said he was watching his neighbors house. Well eventually they gave him a sobriety test and he took off his glasses and that's when I recognized him since the light was more on his face. After that I know they arrested him and they took my report.

About two weeks after that, a lawyer for the bike rider called me and I gave him a statement over the phone.

Not sure what else happened..but it's an incident that's hard to forget.